Imperial Onslaught
"As long as a foe has courage to fight, he will fight. In order to defeat an enemy, you must break them first." - Orbus Nethar, Chapter Master of the Imperial Onslaught The Imperial Onslaught is a 11th founding Space Marine chapter descended from none other than the Imperial Fists. From the start, this chapter has suffered heavy losses, the most serious blow coming when the Onslaught lost their homeworld of Ancarth to the forces of the Ruinous Powers, forcing them to subject it to Extermintatus. The Imperial Onslaught wandered for several decades as a fleet- based chapter, discovering the ancient Star- Fortress Bellator Vagi. After purging the fortress of the xenos taint that infested it, the Imperial Onslaught received the ownership of it from the Adeptus Mechanicus. Now, back at full strength for the first time in centuries, the Imperial Onslaught has earned it's name time and time again, using overwhelming force and brutality to win countless battles. History The 11th Founding The Fall of Ancarth A New Home Chapter Organization The Imperial Onslaught follows the Codex Astartes somewhat, but has altered it's doctrines in a few areas. For starters, the Imperial Onslaught does not use squad symbols, rather, squads are designated by the color of the Marine's right shoulder plate. Red stands for Tactical, Blue for Assault, Green for Devastator, and Purple for Veteran. This is considered to be a more flexible way of squad designation, as the squad "colors" are easier to identify during a battle. The Imperial Onslaught uses the same ranks and titles as a codex chapter, but with a few differences. First of all, rather than having a veteran company, each company has it's own small cadre of Veterans. This organization was first utilized as a means to conserve the Imperial Onslaught's numbers, as during their exile they had lost more than half of the chapter. Even though they are now back at full strength, they still utilize this organization. Other than that, the Imperial Onslaught uses the Codex structure, with all the ranks and titles. Specialist Ranks Linebreaker Veterans '- This specialized rank of veterans are armed with heavy weaponry such as Multi- Meltas, Heavy Plasma Guns, Rocket Launchers, and even Astartes- Pattern Grenade Launchers. They are named after their ability to "crack" the enemy lines with an onslaught of devastating heavy weapons fire. '''Death-Speakers '- Due to some strange gene- sequence, recruit's taken from Ancarth with psychic potential would often manifest psychometric abilities. Since then, one out of three of the Imperial Onslaught's Librarians would be able to witness the entire span of existance of inanimate or deceased objects simply by touching them, which granted them the name "Death-Speaker". While this ability is not exactly useful in combat, in did help the Onslaught gain precious intel on many an occasion. However, since Ancarth was destroyed, Death-Speakers have become increasingly rare. '''Praetorians - A role similar to that of a company champion, the Praetorians were originally named after the valiant warrior-generals of Ancarth. Basically, a Praetorian is the company captain's right hand man, serving as the leader of the company's veteran squads. Becoming a Praetorian is a massive honor, and Praetorians are among some of the most skilled fighters the Imperial Onslaught has to offer. Chapter Culture The Imperial Onslaught's culture has been heavily shaped by both the traditions of the now dead Ancarthian society, and their near destruction. First off, the Imperial Onslaught believe in honor, but not in the sense one might think. They believe that enemies that prove their worth should be given a fighting chance, mean that the Imperial Onslaught will often give an enemy force a small reprieve (with the exception of Chaos) before attacking them again. Of course, after the destruction of Ancarth, many of the Onslaught believe that these old traditions are outdated and have no place within the chapter, resulting in some serious cultural differences within the Imperial Onslaught. The more experienced members of the Onslaught still cling to the old Ancarthian warrior-code, while the newer generations follow a different creed, one that states that only fellow servants of the Imperium deserve honor, everything else simply deserves to be put down. These differing cultural beliefs has caused many a minor schism within the ranks, but nothing serious, yet. One tradition, however, is followed by the entirety of the Imperial Onslaught. It as known as the Speech of the Blades. Basically, if a Marine of the Onslaught has has a grievous dispute with another Marine, the two settle their differences through this ritual duel. Both combatants are given a gladius, and the two fight until the other opponent yields. Since making a Space Marine yield is no easy feat, these duels can last for awhile, the record being one month, but whoever wins immediately wins the dispute, because by winning, the "blades have spoken." This ritual duel is used to settle large disputes, and ever since the fall of Ancarth, these duels have become all the more commonplace. The Speech of the Blades is sometimes even used to choose the Onslaught's next Chapter Master. The Imperial Onslaught is not a particularly religious chapter, but they are particularly reverent of their primarch, Dorn. This reverence stems from an old tale that a ancient weapon known as the Brazed Scepter ''was given to the Imperial Onslaught by the Imperial Fists. According to the Fists, this weapon was discovered by Dorn during the Great Crusade, and was eventually passed down to the Imperial Fists. It was wielded by the Onslaught's first Chapter Master, Azeraih Cayn, and was passed down from chapter master to chapter master, until the Fall of Ancarth, when it was lost after the Onslaught's old fortress-monastery was destroyed. The Onslaught still searches for the scepter, for loosing that holy artifact was possibly the worst offense to Dorn's name, and proven more than willing to kill in order to find it. Combat Doctrine The Imperial Onslaught was once known for their displays of overwhelming force, often over-committing forces to a battle to completely crush an opponent's force. This strategy was later improved by using special Guerrilla tactics in order to both confuse the enemy and reduce their casualties. After the fall of Ancarth, the Onslaught had to fall back on their guerrilla tactics, seeing as their numbers had been severely reduced. They now mostly prefer to a more systematic approach to battle, firing at the enemy from behind cover until they to distract them from their larger forces that attack the enemy from all sides. Notable Campaigns Coming Soon... Companies The Imperial Onslaught's companies are known as Cohorts: 1st Cohort "The One- Hundred" - Captain Kalchas 2nd Cohort "Knights of Old" - Captain Ovuro 3rd Cohort "Children of Blood" - Captain Hordak 4th Cohort "Ancarth's Vengance" - Captain Dormire 5th Cohort "End of Hope" - Captain Slair 6th Cohort (Reserve Company) - Captain Agerite 7th Cohort (Reserve Company) - Captain Fulager 8th Cohort (Reserve Company) - Captain Gregori 9th Cohort (Fleet Company) - Captain Whelmar 10th Corhort (Scout Company) - Captain Doveran Chapter Fleet The Imperial Onslaught is known to have the following ships in their chapter fleet: ''Song of War ''(Battle- Barge) ''Coming Storm ''(Battle- Barge) ''Wandering Warrior ''(Battle- Barge) ''Seeker of Vengance ''(Strike Cruiser) ''Dorn's Pride (Strike Cruiser) Knightfall (Strike Cruiser) Ancarth Reborn ''(Strike Cruiser) Fortress-Monastery/Recruitment The Imperial Onslaught's former homeworld of Ancarth was a Feral World of rugged plains and grassy steppes, home to a civilization of humans divided up into various city- states. While the native Ancathians were primitive, with a civilization that had only recently discovered gunpowder weapons, they still did follow the Imperial Creed (albeit a primitive, slightly backwards version) and were therefore found to be an acceptable source of recruits. Over time, the Ancarthian warrior- culture was slowly integrated into the Onslaught, which still persists inside the chapter to this day. After loosing Ancarth to the Daemons, the Onslaught wandered aimlessly as a fleet- based chapter, recruiting from whichever planets promised the most able recruits. Upon finding the ''Bellator Vagi, the Imperial Onslaught began recruiting from several nearby planets, including: Vasgour Secundus The moon of Vasgour Primus, a massive gas giant, this world is covered in dense jungles filled with fearsome predators, and is inhabited by tribes of primitive humans. These tribes tell stories of Sky- Gods that descend from heaven to take their most promising warriors to become Gods themselves. The Imperial Onslaught encourages these myths, as it allows them to gain a surplus of recruitment material. Caron Caron is a mess of a planet, a polluted, ruined mess of what used to be a hive world. Very few survive here, and but those who do are born survivors, willing to do whatever it takes to thrive in this wasteland. While recruits from this planet are scarce, those who are taken from Caron are usually promising, and go on to become some of the chapter's best warriors. (MORE TO FOLLOW) Relations Allies: (feel free to add your own) Enemies: (feel free to add your own) Notable Members Coming Soon... Chapter Relics Coming Soon... Chapter Livery Coming Soon... Quotes Category:Space Marine Chapters Category:Space Marines Category:11th Founding Category:Imperial Fists Successors